Latest Blog Posts for American/Traditional Martial Arts

When last year I read of a study that debunked key popular beliefs about “learning styles,” I thought, “Yes! I knew it!” These beliefs were, and no doubt still are, very widely and deeply held: that there are distinct styles, or modalities, o...

I’ve decided to post a question, because I’ve been too busy to write a good post in quite some time, and this trend might continue. It’s on one of my favorite subjects: Respect- what it is, what it means. Here’s the question:...

I was put in mind of this question when I read some comments a colleague had made about board-breaking. Breaking boards is unquestionably an exercise in physics. But my colleague, through his remarks, revealed that he didn’t quite understand th...

This was quite a few years ago already. And while the student in question did not use that exact phrase, I don’t think he’d disagree. But let me give the background. As you’ll know if you have read other parts of this blog, I do hav...

Off to a bit of a slow start this year, but now that I’m back online I’m posting a couple of quotes I came across over the holidays: “If there is anything to do, there is certainly a best way to do it, and the best way is both the most economic...

While I’ve been too busy to write these past several weeks, a certain news story has been preying on my mind. Many of you probably read it: “Judo champ jailed in train station beating.” The Striking Thoughts blog made mention of it, if you didn...

Someone sent me this link. I think the column is hilarious, and telling, and among other things it caused me to wonder whether you, readers, think a woman’s experience is really completely different from a man’s. Or, how different you thi...

Someone once asked me whether I’d write a guide to choosing a dojo, to go along with a training manual I was working on. I thought about it, but decided the answer was “no.” It’s not that I don’t have ideas and opinions on the subject; I ha...